Insurance and cancer

Insurance is something you buy to protect you and your finances. There are many types of insurance:

• life
• health (private medical insurance)
• income
• mortgage payments
• car
• travel.

We have more information about the different types of insurance.

When you buy insurance, you take out an insurance policy. The policy is an agreement between you and the insurance company (insurer). The policy tells you what protection the insurer will give you, and how much money they pay out. This is called cover. The policy will also list what you are not covered for.

You pay for the insurance monthly or yearly. The payments you make are called premiums. How much you pay depends on your situation and the level of cover you need. Some insurance policies might be offered to you by your employer. This is called an employee benefit. Your employer takes out the policy and pays the premiums.

Some insurance policies have a waiver of premium benefit. This means you will not have to pay your insurance premiums if you cannot work because of illness or disability.

If something happens in your life you are covered for, you can make a claim. If the insurer gives you the money, this is called a payout.

The insurance company will ask about the cancer. Some of these questions might be hard to cope with. They might ask you whether the cancer can be cured. They need to do this to work out if they can offer you cover and how much it may cost.

If you find this difficult, you might want to ask an insurance broker or financial adviser to look for policies for you instead.

When you are choosing a broker or adviser, always check they are reliable and trustworthy. The British Insurance Broker’s Association has a list of brokers. You can call them on 0370 950 1790.

Private medical insurance (PMI) may help cover or repay the cost of private cancer treatment. Sometimes it can depend on the stage or the grade of the cancer. Private medical insurance will sometimes cover costs related to cancer treatment, such as wigs or prosthetics.

Macmillan Cancer support has worked with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to make sure insurers have a separate section explaining their cancer cover. This should list some agreed upon examples. You will need to check the wording of the policy. It may be helpful to talk it through with them.

You must get approval for any cancer treatment before it starts. Your private medical insurance can refuse to cover the costs if you do not do this.

Cancer is recognised by law as a disability. If you have or have had cancer, you are protected by the:

• Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland, and Wales (Gov UK website)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland (NI Direct website).

These acts make it illegal to treat people differently because of a disability.

But there are different rules for insurance. An insurer can treat a person with a disability differently if the disability increases the risk of them making a claim. But they can only do this if:

• the risk of claiming assessment is based on relevant information
• the information is from a reliable source, such as statistical data or medical reports
• the way the insurer treats the person is reasonable, given the information available.

If asked, the insurer has to provide evidence to show they have met these conditions.

For information and support about unfair discrimination because of cancer, contact:

• the Equality Advisory Support Service if you live in England, Scotland and Wales
• the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland if you live in Northern Ireland.

If you have questions about your insurance policies, contact the insurer company.

If you are unhappy about the service you get from an insurance broker, financial adviser or insurance provider, you can contact them to make a complaint.

We have more information about making a complaint and in our booklet Planning and managing your finances.